


She Makes Good Soup

by roxashighwind



Series: The College AU No One Asked For [7]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Minor Character Death, Multi, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-19
Updated: 2017-07-19
Packaged: 2018-12-04 02:43:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11545827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roxashighwind/pseuds/roxashighwind
Summary: “No.” She stood suddenly and closed the lid of her laptop with a (frankly scary) snap. Pike left it on the kitchen table and strode out of the kitchen through the dining room entrance.Vax pulled out his cell phone and messaged the first person he could think of.In the Darkness I say Fuck:Pickle’s upset about something but won’t talk to me. Maybe you’ll have better luck?-Something happened and Pike goes to Keyleth for comfort.





	She Makes Good Soup

**Author's Note:**

> First off, let me tell you that this took a turn that I did not originally intend but ran with anyway. Second: the College AU continues to give me more details about itself with everything I write for it, including the delightful news that there's even more polyamory in this world than I originally thought! Pike **is** dating Percy (as has been a fact in previous fics in the AU), and she is additionally dating Keyleth! Let it be known that Keyleth is _not_ dating Percy in this universe. 
> 
> I'm going to spoil you right now on who died, okay? Here goes: Wilhand Trickfoot died in this fic. It is off screen and actually happened probably a day before the start of this fanfiction. 
> 
> This fic was written for the prompt 'Pike - X: a flash of anger' from the [prompt list](http://roxashighwind.tumblr.com/post/162171185288/send-me-characters-and-a-letter-and-ill-write) and quickly went from anger to sadness. Additionally, this was written at least partially for [Kaity](http://percyvex.tumblr.com/) because she wanted more Pikeleth in the world. There will more likely than not be a sequel to this fic that is either a direct continuation or set a couple days later.

****

Her stare was blank. It was what immediately clued Vax in on the fact that something was wrong as he rounded the corner into the kitchen. “Uh, hey Pickle.”

Pike’s eyes narrowed, corners of her mouth pulling down in a frown as he drew her attention. “Don’t.”

He stopped moving, hands up in the air. “Anything I can do?” he asked. It wasn’t often that Pike was visibly angry, or even upset for that matter, and Vax wanted to do what he could to fix it.

“No.” She stood suddenly and closed the lid of her laptop with a (frankly scary) snap. Pike left it on the kitchen table and strode out of the kitchen through the dining room entrance. 

Vax pulled out his cell phone and messaged the first person he could think of.

**In the Darkness I say Fuck:** Pickle’s upset about something but won’t talk to me. Maybe you’ll have better luck?

The response came almost immediately.

**don’t worry we’re basically gods:** i thought she was with percy?

**don’t worry we’re basically gods:** or not she just came in i’ll see what’s up

Glad that Pike was somewhere safe, Vax turned his attention to the fridge and all the sandwich making supplies within.

\---

Keyleth slipped her phone into her cardigan pocket just as Pike pressed her face into her sternum. “Hey there…”

Pike let out an unintelligible sound, muffled by Keyleth’s chest. 

“What happened?” she asked. It wasn’t like Pike to be so quiet; normally she tried to cover up any upset feelings with talk and questions about everyone around her. “Pike?”

She shook her head, and if it was any other time Keyleth would think that Pike was trying to motorboat her. Pike’s arms wrapped tightly around Keyleth’s waist, clinging.

“No pressure, but you’re starting to scare me a little bit.” Keyleth carefully set one hand on Pike’s upper back, and the other began to slowly pet Pike’s head. 

She whined, still muffled by Keyleth’s chest. “‘m sorry.”

“I just don’t know what’s going on.” She continued to run her hand over Pike’s hair. “Is there anything I can do?”

Pike shook her head again and held just a little tighter to Keyleth. Slowly, she nodded, and finally turned her head to suck in a shaky breath. Another whine ended on a rough sob, and Pike pressed her forehead to Keyleth’s chest. 

Keyleth looked down at Pike, worry creasing her brow. “Talk to me?” she asked.

“P-paw Paw…” Another sob and finally Pike’s shoulders started to shake as the crying took over.

Her eyes widened. “Oh no.”

Pike gave a shaky nod in reply and relaxed her grip on Keyleth to press a hand to her mouth. Maybe, if she tried hard enough, she could shove the ugly sobbing back inside and squish it down. 

“Hey, hey… let’s get you sat down.” She cupped Pike’s cheek with one hand, gently encouraging her to look up. “It’ll feel better.” She walked Pike to the futon in the corner and got her to sit. Her heart hurt at how broken Pike looked in the moment it took Keyleth to join her. 

“I got-got the c-call…” Pike’s breath hitched and she covered her mouth with both hands. She curled in on herself, and leaned into Keyleth when the taller woman wrapped an arm around her. “It hap-happened, happened in his sle-sleep.”

“Oh Pike. I’m so sorry.” Keyleth could feel tears in her own eyes; Wilhand was a good man, and she knew that he meant the world to Pike. “I’m here for you, whatever you need, okay?” She wasn’t sure what else to say and simply hugged Pike closer, a hand running up and down her back.

It took a while, but Pike’s sobs turned to hiccuping breaths with the occasional sniffle. She stayed pressed against Keyleth. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. 

“You have nothing to be sorry about.”

Pike finally pulled back enough to properly look at Keyleth. “I got tears and snot all over your shirt.”

Keyleth waved a hand. “I don’t care about the shirt, I care about  _ you _ .”

“Sap.”

“It’s one of the reasons you love me.”

That got a small, watery smile out of Pike. “Yeah it is.” The smile faded. “I don’t… I don’t know what to do or-or how to tell JB or any of the others.” 

She bit her lip for a moment. “If you want me to, I can tell them.” 

“Oh no,” Pike started and sat up fully. “Kiki I can't make you do that.”

“You're not making me do anything. I offered because I know it will be hard for you and I want to take some of that stress off of you.” Keyleth’s hand hovered between them, not quite reaching Pike’s cheek. 

Pike leaned forward and offered her face to Keyleth. “Only if you're sure,” she said softly, her voice thick with tears.

Her fingers brushed across Pike’s cheek, wiping away freshly falling tears. “I'm sure.”

She squeezed her eyes shut against another onslaught of tears. “JB…”

“Let me worry about her, okay? She’s in class for a while still, right?”

A small nod and Pike shifted forward until she could curl against Keyleth’s chest again. “Grog’s going to cry,” she whispered after a minute of silence.

Keyleth blanched. “Are you sure?”

“He cried when Paw Paw Wilhand went into the hospital last year for his hip. Because of the surgery risks.” 

“He did not!”

The scandalized tone to Keyleth’s voice garnered a wobbly laugh, muffled against Keyleth’s shoulder. “He did. Since he doesn’t trust hospitals in the first place, he really didn’t like Paw Paw going in without one of us with him.”

“So that’s why Vex went.”

“Mmhmm.” Pike’s breathing slowly evened out. “She was the only one with a midterm schedule that worked out.”

With a nod, Keyleth let the conversation lapse into near silence; the only sounds were the soft burbling of the fountain in the opposite corner and the slow breathing of the massive dog under one of the many plant-laden tables against the walls. She could feel Pike fighting a post-cry nap against her chest. She carefully began picking apart Pike’s messy braided buns, knowing they were uncomfortable to sleep on. 

After a few minutes, Keyleth asked, “Hey Pike?”

“Hmm?”

“Wanna lay down with Trinket for a bit? I’ll make you some soup.” 

Pike once more slowly pulled back until she could look up at Keyleth, a hand seeking out one of Keyleth’s to link their fingers. “You do make good soup.”

Keyleth smiled and leaned in to press a gentle kiss to Pike’s forehead, and a second one high on one cheek. “I’ll be back soon.” She moved off of the futon slowly, letting Pike take her time letting go of her hand. “If you need me while I’m making soup, shout or text, okay?”

“Okay.” Pike whistled for Trinket, and the dog scrambled to comply. He jumped onto the futon and settled half on top of Pike. She wrapped her arms around him and pressed her cheek to his fur. “Hurry back.”

She fished her phone out of her cardigan pocket and snapped a quick picture of Pike and Trinket wrapped around each other. “I’ll be as quick as I can.” Keyleth nodded and finally took the steps out of her room. She texted the picture of Pike and Trinket to the group chat with a line of sparkle hearts in the comment, then pulled up her solo conversation with Percy as she headed for the kitchen.

**don’t worry we’re basically gods:** Pike’s going to need both of us tonight.

She pulled out a bag of chicken broth cubes from the freezer and set a few in a pot on the stove to thaw into a soup base. In another pot she set water to boil for noodles. 

**Life needs things to live:** Oh?

**don’t worry we’re basically gods:** Wilhand passed away

**don’t worry we’re basically gods:** i told her i’d tell everyone for her

**don’t worry we’re basically gods:** help me

**don’t worry we’re basically gods:** i’m making soup

Keyleth set her phone on the counter and focused on preparing some veggies to add to the broth. 

**Life needs things to live:** Oh gods. I’ll be over as soon as I can. Are you holding up alright? From the picture in the group chat I assume you’ve gotten Pike settled.

**don’t worry we’re basically gods:** thanks. I’m doing okay. 

**don’t worry we’re basically gods:** just get here when you can, okay?

She put her phone into her cardigan pocket and returned her focus to the boiling pot of noodles. She scrubbed at her eyes with the back of a wrist, stirring the pasta with her other hand. She wasn’t looking forward to breaking the news to the rest of the group, especially Grog and JB, but if it meant things being a little less unpleasant for Pike… 

The noodle pot almost boiled over. Keyleth let out a shaky laugh and kept a closer eye on it as the pasta finished cooking.

**Author's Note:**

> In the Darkness I say Fuck - Vax  
> don't worry we're basically gods - Keyleth  
> Life needs things to live - Percy


End file.
